Loose-leaf ledger.



No. 651,899. Patented 'J un'e I9, 1900.

- H. SWALLEY.

LIH'JSE LEAF "LEDGEB.

(Application filed-la. 21, 1899.)

2 Sheets-Sheet I.

GENERAL (No Model.)

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No. 651,899. Patented June l9,'19'00.

H. SWALLE'Y. LOOSE LEAF LEDGER. (A lication filed Sept. 21, 1899.) (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Shoat 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY SWALLEY, OF MILWAUKEE, WVISCONSIN.

Loose-LEAF LEDGER.

smmmm "forming part of Letters Patent in). 651,899, dated. at... 19, 1966. Application filed September 2-1, 1899- 'fie rial No. 731,140. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, HENRY SWALLEY, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Milwaukee, in the county of Milwaukee and State of NVisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Loose-Leaf Ledgers and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention has especial reference to the pockets or casings for holding ledger balancesheets, as well as to the account-sheets, employed in connection with what are known as loose-leaf ledgers; and it consists in certain peculiarities of construction and combination of parts, all as will be fully set forth hereinafter and subsequently claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of one of my improved ledger-balance-sheet pockets, showing also one of my accountsheets or loose leavesresting thereon and showing the balance-sheets partly withdrawn from said pocket, the said loose leaf being partly turned back to expose the under side thereof and portions being broken away to expose the construction beneath. Fig. 2 is a plan view of said pocket, also partly broken away. Fig. 3 is an edge View of said pocket, partly in section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2 and with the balance -sheet partly withdrawn therefrom, as in Fig. 1.

Loose-leaf ledgers are coming into general usein banks and similar institutions, and consist, primarily, of front and back covers having series of telescoping tubes orposts secured near the inner ends thereof, said tubes being adapted to receive removable leaves on which the ledger-accounts are kept, these ledgers being further provided with means for locking the covers together, and thereby tightly securing the removable leaves in place, an example of such a device being shown in the patent granted October 18, 1898, to Henry G. Razall, numbered 612,436, and in connection with ledgers of this character pockets'or casings containing withdrawable ledger balance-sheets (such, for example, as are shown in my prior patents, numbered 619,366 and 629,404, granted to me February 14, 1899, and July 25, 1899, respectively) have been found of the greatest convenience. However, in

practice it has been found that with the pockets or casings constructed as shown in the two patents last named there was a certain unevenness in the left-hand portion of said pockets or casings, which interfered with the smooth and ready writing on the loose leaves or account-sheets immediately above said pockets, it being usual to distribute these pockets through a ledger with twenty or more of the loose account-leaves between each two successive pockets, the latter containing the ledger balance-sheets for the immediatelypreceding loose leaves, and to remedy this defectis one of the principal objects of my present invention.

Referring to the drawings, A represents one of my improved pockets, and B a ledger balance-sheet partially withdrawn therefrom. In its preferred form my pocket or casing is formed by doubling a pieceof fabric or folding it upon itself, so that it shall be continuous at the upper edge a of the fold or top of the pocket A, and with the lower part of the front portion subsequently brought over to form the lower edge of the pocket, as shown at b, Fig. 3, and turned in and cemented to the adjacent edge a of the back portion of said folded fabric, as hereinafter described, thus making a pocket. The back-stop of the pocket proper is formed by a transverse strip 0, of pasteboard or similar material, there being a similar but somewhat thicker transverse strip D at the extreme inner end of my device. I

E represents a piece of smooth cardboard, leatherette, or like material of practically the height of the pocket and of less width than the distance between the right-hand edge of the transverse strip 0 and the like edge of the transverse strip D. This piece E is laid upon and pasted or cemented to the firstnamed strip 0 practically edge for edge at the right hand, as shown in Fig. 2, so as to leave a'slightv space between the left-hand edge of the piece E and the right-hand edge of the strip D. Then the front portion of the described folded piece of fabric is pasted or cemented along its left or inner edge to the front surface of the strip D and to the exposed surface .of that portion of the piece E which rests upon the strip 0, while the. back portion of said fabric is similarly pasted or cemented to the under surfaces of the strips D and O, and the lower inturned edge of the front portion of the folded fabric is'pas-ted' or cemented to the adjacent surface'of' thelower edge of the backportion thereof; If desired, the said folded fabric is first sized or stiffened, as with dextrine or the like, and the surfaces that are folded together may be lined with paper or other material, and papermay be pasted upon the outer surfaces of the pocket proper, if desired, (as indicated in Fig. 2, where the vertical lineimmediately at the left of strip 0 represents the lefthand edge of such superimposed sheet of paper,) to afford space for making any desired entries upon said pocket. After this a series of holes, as d d d, are punched through the inner transverse strip D and thefabric covering the same, whereby the pocket maybe afterward secured to the tubes orposts e e e of,

the hereinbefore-referred-to loose leaf ledger, and a series of rivetsor like fastening devices f f f are driven through the strip 0 and its superimposed piece E and the fabric covering' of these parts, the said strip .0 and the piece E and fabric cemented theretobeing first countersunkon top and botto1n,.as shown a at g g 9, so that the heads of the rilvets or. other fasteners may be practically flush with. One of the surfaces on either side thereof. my improved ledger balance-sheets (such, for example, as is shown in my patent of. July 25,

1 899, liereinbefore referred to) is thenslipped into th'epocket from the open right-hand end and the front corner-stops h secured by cement or otherwise just within the said open end of the pocket to prevent the. complete withdrawal'of the ledger balance-sheet therefrom, and the device is complete.

It is essential that the thickness of the de vice should be the same at the inner end,

where the strip D is applied, and at the in termediate point, where, the strip 0 isappli'ed, as wellas at the pocket portion, (when. the ledger balance-sheet is pushed'backto place,) thisconstruction leaving the thickness less betweenthe strips D and C, so that there will be a flexible hinge at this point, there being a slight-space just to the rightiof the strip D, where there is nothing between the front and theheadi'ngs and rulings on the reverse side.

, extending from the lower edge upward exactly opposite to those upon the obverse side and theleft-hand edge of said sheetlhaving,

openings, as shownat-k 7c is, to embracethe described tubes or posts e e e of the loose-leaf ledger-and having slits m m m extendingfrom said openings to the adjacent inner edge for theready removal of one of's'aid sheets-from or itsreplacementonsaid tubes or posts, .B'y

reason of the described piece E extending under the front portion '11; of the folded fabric atthe left, as shown, thereis always asmooth surface under the said loose leaf, which greatly facilitates the writing on the first few ruled columns of the said leaf, and if the account occupies more than the obverse side of the said. leaf the latter when the said side is written full ispulled out from its place and reversed and replaced and the account con tinued, which will be found to be a'greatadvantage,inasmuch as thus the writing isalways done upon the right-hand side of the open: ledger; another advantage being that thus the account is always on that side next.

to the balance-sheet, and the awkwardness of having to go f-r-ornthe extreme lefthand-of an open ledger tolthe extremeright hand of the extended or drawn-out balance-sheet is obviated, and hencethe entries or transfers can be much. more quickly and conveniently made than otherwise andwith-a greatly-reduced chance of.errors,which is-avmatter of the utmost importance in the regular daily use of these ledgers in banks and similar-institutions. 4

, With a loose-leaf ledger consisting of my improvedleaves interposed between my improved: balance-sheet pockets it will be found thatmy said leaves will turn as readily and fold as flatly as will. the leaves commonly employed in such devices, which have sepa rate cloth hinges between the stub. and body of the leaf, besides whichmyileaves are much cheaperlin manufacture and. safer in use, as when locked to place in the ledgerxthey cannot be removed without being bodily torn out, thereby serving as .an efiectual guard against being tampered with, by avdishonest bookkeeper or other employee a Having thus described my'inventiomwhat I claim as new,.and desire tosec ure by Letters piece of cardboard oranalogous material secured tov the front surface of said intermedi ate strip andv extending toward the inner strip, between the front .andback portionsof the folded fabric, theprojection of said piece being less than the width between the said end and intermediate transverse strips, and the thickness of the said pocketor casingat the line of both of saidstripsbeing equal.

2. In aloose-leaf ledger, the combination with the tubes or posts thereof, of a. pocket or casing for the balance-sheet,,said pocket or casing having an inner transverse strip with openings therein for engagementwith said tubes or posts, another transverse strip adjacent to the inner strip,.andva covering of loose leaf, ruled on both sides for ledger-ac-.

counts, having openings for engagement with said tubes or posts, and communicating slits for the ready removal or replacement of said leaf.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, at Moline, in the 1'5 county of Rock Island and State of Illinois,

in the presence of two witnesses.

HENRY SWALLEY.

Witnesses:

CHAS. W. LUNDAHL, CHAS. F. KERNS. 

